Caribbean Queen
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, LGBTQ
Caribbean Queen bridges the intergenerational gap between Caribbean LGBTQIA+ folks and their families. You can still support and receive a tax deductible donation. GO TO Tinyurl.com/CQFilmDonate.
Caribbean Queen
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, LGBTQ
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $12,600 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
75 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
Caribbean Queen bridges the intergenerational gap between Caribbean LGBTQIA+ folks and their families. You can still support and receive a tax deductible donation. GO TO Tinyurl.com/CQFilmDonate.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
"I think the laws create a system of homophobia.
I am hoping that one day
the buggery [law] can be lifted to be free."
Andrew Williams (pseudonym),
Saint Vincent, January 11, 2023
SOURCE: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
"Caribbean Queen" is an inspiring short film that follows the journey of Q,
a young Caribbean boy, who wants to become the Queen of the West Indian Day Carnival Parade.
However, prejudice from family and the community threatens
this dream and celebration of Caribbean culture.
But with determination and the help of their bestie, they may just make it to the Parkway!
With the help of our partners at Caribbean Equality Project and your funding,
we will take this story across the Caribbean Diaspora.
Jamaica. Panama. Guyana. Trinidad. The Bahamas.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Our creative team comes from all across the Caribbean Diaspora.
We are all out and proud individuals who have survived anti-LGBTQ+
hate violence, isolation, and displacement
and fought to reclaim our Queer Caribbean Heritage for the next generation.
Now, we take our experiences and use the power of storytelling
to bring Caribbean Queen to the world.
Our writer hails from Jamaica.
Our cinematographer reps Panama.
Our director was born in the Bahamas.
Our Executive Producer calls Guyana his birthplace.
We are all fighting every single day to live the American dream-
freely and without the fear of violence.
The Caribbean is a beautiful place to vacation, but it's still on the road to true equality for all its citizens.
"Every day I fear for my safety living in this country
because of my sexual orientation."
Peter, Dominica, February 21, 2017,
SOURCE: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
We use carnival as a metaphor to represent transformation and freedom!
We twirl in its beauty and splendor, but march in defiance with its revelers on the road!
We reclaim the origins of the celebration as a place of resistance!
“African slaves never forgot about where they came from and passed
along their memories to each subsequent generation through oral history and reminiscences.”
- Dwaine Plaza & Jane DeCosmo,
“Women and the De-Africanization of Trinidad Carnival:
From the Jamette to Bikinis, Beads, and Feathers”
Caribbean Queen The Film Goes To The World!
Your donation will ensure we produce the film!
The more we raise, the further the film travels!
"Queer Caribbean Lives Matter! We have always existed.
Today, Caribbean LGBTQ+ visibility is an act of defiance."
Mohamed Q. Amin,
Founder and Executive Director, Caribbean Equality Project
Estimated Film Release: Black History Month February 2024.
Any additional funds over our campaign goal will be used to
develop and execute a tour of Caribbean Queen across the Caribbean Region and Diaspora.
Stretch goals.
Once we hit $50,000 We carry ourselves to various countries.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Composer Stipend
Costs $5,000
We would love to bring the sounds of the Caribbean to life! Help us give our composer a stipend for their work.
Festival Fees
Costs $200
Festivals are costly. Sure, we know this movie is going places... but we have to send it in so the other folks can accept it. Help us!
Post Production
Costs $10,000
We have complete production and would love to have a professional editor on board. Help us pay our editor a stipend for their work.
Share this update!
About This Team
THE WRITER
Karl O’Brian Williams(he/him/his) is a Jamaican-born actor, creative writer, producer, director and educator. His acting career has taken him from stages in the Caribbean to those in New York, Toronto, and the United Kingdom. His monologue The Kept Man was adapted into the film Winston, which received over 18 film festival selections including the Pan African Film Festival and the African American Film Festival. His play The Black That I Am has been staged in Glasgow and Galloway for the National Theatre of Scotland, and at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. In 2013 Not About Eve received 3 AUDELCO nominations for Excellence in Black Theatre including Outstanding Ensemble Cast, Best Dramatic Production, and Best Playwright.
The Boys on the Hill was a selection in The Culture Project’s 2015 Summer Play Reading series at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre, and for Long Island University’s Kumble Theatre 2016 Pride Month Celebrations. It is currently being developed along with Gully Queen as part of a trilogy on LGBTQ+ lives in Jamaica. He's narrated three audiobooks, and was nominated for an Audie Award for These Ghosts Are Family written by Maisy Card. He is currently teaching theatre at The Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY), NYU's Program in Educational Theatre, and Randolph College. Karl is artistic director at Braata Productions: a non-profit Caribbean Arts Organization.
THE DIRECTOR/CO-WRITER
GLAAD award-winning filmmaker, Sekiya Dorsett(she/her/hers) centers a multidimensional Black experience. Bringing into sharper focus the lives of Black women, queer folks, the working class, and their intersections, Sekiya’s body of work is notable for its intimate storytelling. Her first feature, 2017’s “The Revival: Women and the Word” traversed the United States on tour with Black lesbian poets. In 2019, she directed a four-episode documentary series, “Stonewall 50: The Revolution,” for NBC News and NBCOut.
The series’ deep dive into the historic uprising won a GLAAD Media Award and the award for Excellence in Digital Journalism from NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists. Recently, Sekiya was one of the cinematographers who brought “In Our Mother’s Gardens (Netflix),” a masterpiece of intergenerational Black woman confessional storytelling, to critical and audience acclaim. Sekiya's films have screened at Tribeca Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, the Brooklyn Museum, Frameline Film Fest and Outfest Film Festival. And her work has been featured in HuffPost, MIC, BuzzFeed & Essence.
Sekiya holds a Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College. She’s a fierce champion of her community of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. The iconic neighborhood is the main character of her next project, I LOVE BED-STUY, a docu-fiction feature-length love story and a love letter to Brooklyn’s iconic neighborhood.
THE CINEMATOGRAPHER
Tiffany Armour-Tejada(she/her/hers)started taking pictures at the age of 9 and is now a notable Director of Photography with an expansive body of work from each stage of her career. In her earlier days, she was hired as a video engineer for house video for New York Fashion Week and has since completed over 60 New York Fashion Week productions having worked with designer teams such as Tom Ford, Alexander Wang, Carolina Herrera, and Oscar Del La Renta.
With over 40 film credits to date, Tiffany was the first minority woman to join the local 600 and has since worked on The Equalizer, Harlem and Uncut Gems. Her latest feature film, A Killer Romance premiered on Tubi this year.
Passionate about independent artists and projects, she opened a small color lab in Brooklyn where she can support the local film community.
THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/ FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF CARIBBEAN EQUALITY PROJECT
Mohamed Q. Amin (he/they) is an Indo-Caribbean, Queer, and Muslim immigrant rights activist, a native of Guyana, who currently resides in Richmond Hill, Queens, NY. On the eve of the 2013 NYC Pride Parade, Amin, his partner, and his siblings survived a vicious attack for being members of the LGBTQ+ community in their Caribbean-centric Southeast Queens neighborhood. In response to the anti-LGBTQ hate violence, in 2015, he founded the Caribbean Equality Project (CEP), a non-profit organization that advocates for Caribbean LGBTQ+ voices in New York City. His transnational advocacy and community organizing are rooted in gender equity, racial justice, dismantling and decolonizing systems of oppression, healing, and ending anti-LGBTQ hate violence in the Caribbean diaspora.
PRODUCER
Cheries Carrabon hails from the picturesque island of Trinidad & Tobago. At the tender age of eighteen, she bid farewell to paradise and embarked on a journey to chase her dreams amidst the bustling concrete jungles of New York City. Her mission: to amplify the voices and narratives of individuals who bore a resemblance to her and had encountered similar life experiences.
Cheries unwavering commitment to the arts, combined with her exceptional leadership in planning and executing innovative and captivating content, has established her as a seasoned producer. Her dynamic and energetic approach to storytelling continually fuels her drive to push boundaries, eagerly embracing even the most ambitious projects.
She currently works at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts as she brings indie projects to life.
PRODUCER
Savannah Turner is a producer, doula, and facilitator based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Her work is rooted in community care, ancestral knowledge, and the Black feminist tradition. Savannah learns something every day from past and present creatives, healers, neighbors, organizers, and other doulas to inform and inspire her own practice.
She received her B.A. in Digital Anthropology and African-American Studies from Wesleyan University, focusing her research on the relationship between Black Twitter and Shonda Rhimes’ former Thursday night lineup on ABC. She is a co-founder of CT Hip-Hop, a music literacy program for middle school students to build confidence as creators. Most recently, Savannah was a Princeton Emerging Leaders Fellow for her community partnership and facilitation work across the country. Savannah’s lived experience as a queer, Black femme fuels her to build a creative practice centering joy and abundance.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
"I think the laws create a system of homophobia.
I am hoping that one day
the buggery [law] can be lifted to be free."
Andrew Williams (pseudonym),
Saint Vincent, January 11, 2023
SOURCE: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
"Caribbean Queen" is an inspiring short film that follows the journey of Q,
a young Caribbean boy, who wants to become the Queen of the West Indian Day Carnival Parade.
However, prejudice from family and the community threatens
this dream and celebration of Caribbean culture.
But with determination and the help of their bestie, they may just make it to the Parkway!
With the help of our partners at Caribbean Equality Project and your funding,
we will take this story across the Caribbean Diaspora.
Jamaica. Panama. Guyana. Trinidad. The Bahamas.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Our creative team comes from all across the Caribbean Diaspora.
We are all out and proud individuals who have survived anti-LGBTQ+
hate violence, isolation, and displacement
and fought to reclaim our Queer Caribbean Heritage for the next generation.
Now, we take our experiences and use the power of storytelling
to bring Caribbean Queen to the world.
Our writer hails from Jamaica.
Our cinematographer reps Panama.
Our director was born in the Bahamas.
Our Executive Producer calls Guyana his birthplace.
We are all fighting every single day to live the American dream-
freely and without the fear of violence.
The Caribbean is a beautiful place to vacation, but it's still on the road to true equality for all its citizens.
"Every day I fear for my safety living in this country
because of my sexual orientation."
Peter, Dominica, February 21, 2017,
SOURCE: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
We use carnival as a metaphor to represent transformation and freedom!
We twirl in its beauty and splendor, but march in defiance with its revelers on the road!
We reclaim the origins of the celebration as a place of resistance!
“African slaves never forgot about where they came from and passed
along their memories to each subsequent generation through oral history and reminiscences.”
- Dwaine Plaza & Jane DeCosmo,
“Women and the De-Africanization of Trinidad Carnival:
From the Jamette to Bikinis, Beads, and Feathers”
Caribbean Queen The Film Goes To The World!
Your donation will ensure we produce the film!
The more we raise, the further the film travels!
"Queer Caribbean Lives Matter! We have always existed.
Today, Caribbean LGBTQ+ visibility is an act of defiance."
Mohamed Q. Amin,
Founder and Executive Director, Caribbean Equality Project
Estimated Film Release: Black History Month February 2024.
Any additional funds over our campaign goal will be used to
develop and execute a tour of Caribbean Queen across the Caribbean Region and Diaspora.
Stretch goals.
Once we hit $50,000 We carry ourselves to various countries.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Composer Stipend
Costs $5,000
We would love to bring the sounds of the Caribbean to life! Help us give our composer a stipend for their work.
Festival Fees
Costs $200
Festivals are costly. Sure, we know this movie is going places... but we have to send it in so the other folks can accept it. Help us!
Post Production
Costs $10,000
We have complete production and would love to have a professional editor on board. Help us pay our editor a stipend for their work.
Share this update!
About This Team
THE WRITER
Karl O’Brian Williams(he/him/his) is a Jamaican-born actor, creative writer, producer, director and educator. His acting career has taken him from stages in the Caribbean to those in New York, Toronto, and the United Kingdom. His monologue The Kept Man was adapted into the film Winston, which received over 18 film festival selections including the Pan African Film Festival and the African American Film Festival. His play The Black That I Am has been staged in Glasgow and Galloway for the National Theatre of Scotland, and at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. In 2013 Not About Eve received 3 AUDELCO nominations for Excellence in Black Theatre including Outstanding Ensemble Cast, Best Dramatic Production, and Best Playwright.
The Boys on the Hill was a selection in The Culture Project’s 2015 Summer Play Reading series at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre, and for Long Island University’s Kumble Theatre 2016 Pride Month Celebrations. It is currently being developed along with Gully Queen as part of a trilogy on LGBTQ+ lives in Jamaica. He's narrated three audiobooks, and was nominated for an Audie Award for These Ghosts Are Family written by Maisy Card. He is currently teaching theatre at The Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY), NYU's Program in Educational Theatre, and Randolph College. Karl is artistic director at Braata Productions: a non-profit Caribbean Arts Organization.
THE DIRECTOR/CO-WRITER
GLAAD award-winning filmmaker, Sekiya Dorsett(she/her/hers) centers a multidimensional Black experience. Bringing into sharper focus the lives of Black women, queer folks, the working class, and their intersections, Sekiya’s body of work is notable for its intimate storytelling. Her first feature, 2017’s “The Revival: Women and the Word” traversed the United States on tour with Black lesbian poets. In 2019, she directed a four-episode documentary series, “Stonewall 50: The Revolution,” for NBC News and NBCOut.
The series’ deep dive into the historic uprising won a GLAAD Media Award and the award for Excellence in Digital Journalism from NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists. Recently, Sekiya was one of the cinematographers who brought “In Our Mother’s Gardens (Netflix),” a masterpiece of intergenerational Black woman confessional storytelling, to critical and audience acclaim. Sekiya's films have screened at Tribeca Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, the Brooklyn Museum, Frameline Film Fest and Outfest Film Festival. And her work has been featured in HuffPost, MIC, BuzzFeed & Essence.
Sekiya holds a Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College. She’s a fierce champion of her community of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. The iconic neighborhood is the main character of her next project, I LOVE BED-STUY, a docu-fiction feature-length love story and a love letter to Brooklyn’s iconic neighborhood.
THE CINEMATOGRAPHER
Tiffany Armour-Tejada(she/her/hers)started taking pictures at the age of 9 and is now a notable Director of Photography with an expansive body of work from each stage of her career. In her earlier days, she was hired as a video engineer for house video for New York Fashion Week and has since completed over 60 New York Fashion Week productions having worked with designer teams such as Tom Ford, Alexander Wang, Carolina Herrera, and Oscar Del La Renta.
With over 40 film credits to date, Tiffany was the first minority woman to join the local 600 and has since worked on The Equalizer, Harlem and Uncut Gems. Her latest feature film, A Killer Romance premiered on Tubi this year.
Passionate about independent artists and projects, she opened a small color lab in Brooklyn where she can support the local film community.
THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/ FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF CARIBBEAN EQUALITY PROJECT
Mohamed Q. Amin (he/they) is an Indo-Caribbean, Queer, and Muslim immigrant rights activist, a native of Guyana, who currently resides in Richmond Hill, Queens, NY. On the eve of the 2013 NYC Pride Parade, Amin, his partner, and his siblings survived a vicious attack for being members of the LGBTQ+ community in their Caribbean-centric Southeast Queens neighborhood. In response to the anti-LGBTQ hate violence, in 2015, he founded the Caribbean Equality Project (CEP), a non-profit organization that advocates for Caribbean LGBTQ+ voices in New York City. His transnational advocacy and community organizing are rooted in gender equity, racial justice, dismantling and decolonizing systems of oppression, healing, and ending anti-LGBTQ hate violence in the Caribbean diaspora.
PRODUCER
Cheries Carrabon hails from the picturesque island of Trinidad & Tobago. At the tender age of eighteen, she bid farewell to paradise and embarked on a journey to chase her dreams amidst the bustling concrete jungles of New York City. Her mission: to amplify the voices and narratives of individuals who bore a resemblance to her and had encountered similar life experiences.
Cheries unwavering commitment to the arts, combined with her exceptional leadership in planning and executing innovative and captivating content, has established her as a seasoned producer. Her dynamic and energetic approach to storytelling continually fuels her drive to push boundaries, eagerly embracing even the most ambitious projects.
She currently works at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts as she brings indie projects to life.
PRODUCER
Savannah Turner is a producer, doula, and facilitator based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Her work is rooted in community care, ancestral knowledge, and the Black feminist tradition. Savannah learns something every day from past and present creatives, healers, neighbors, organizers, and other doulas to inform and inspire her own practice.
She received her B.A. in Digital Anthropology and African-American Studies from Wesleyan University, focusing her research on the relationship between Black Twitter and Shonda Rhimes’ former Thursday night lineup on ABC. She is a co-founder of CT Hip-Hop, a music literacy program for middle school students to build confidence as creators. Most recently, Savannah was a Princeton Emerging Leaders Fellow for her community partnership and facilitation work across the country. Savannah’s lived experience as a queer, Black femme fuels her to build a creative practice centering joy and abundance.